


Keeper of Dragons

by seqka711



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga), Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragons, Gen, Lots of dragons - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:20:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21898060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seqka711/pseuds/seqka711
Summary: Fifteen ancient dragons are called from across the Four Kingdoms to verify the vows Yubel and the Supreme King made over 10’000 years ago.The leader of the Signers must discover the source of the taint corrupting their homeland.Astral and Barian will war until the dragons die.The Pharaoh wishes for true power.Four young boys are trapped on a tower, with only the dragons and their four female curators for company.
Relationships: Fudou Yuusei/Izayoi Aki, Yubel/Yuuki Juudai | Jaden Yuki
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	Keeper of Dragons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No beta, we die like men out here. Also, this was loosely inspired by Dragon Guardians. Go read that fic, it's really good.

** KEEPER OF STARVE VENOM FUSION DRAGON, SAKAKI YURI **

With the coming of winter, night had fallen in the Fusion Kingdom much earlier than Yuri had foretold. Numb fingers gripped Starve Venom’s harness as he flew above the darkened clouds, making haste for the Supreme King’s residence. An ordinary human may have been dazzled by the great number of stars visible above, or the fathomless ocean below, but having grown up with dragons all his life, Yuri was suitably bored by lofty views and long flights. Having received urgent summons a mere 5 hours earlier, Yuri was at first ecstatic to leave his pillar prison and escape his tiresome brothers; but after such a long flight he more than wanted it to be over. It especially didn’t help that he couldn’t even enjoy total solitude, since his ever-present shadow followed him even here.

Serena, the aforementioned shadow, clung to his waist. She held no favour with Starve Venom, or dragons of any kind. Should she let go for even a half-second, she would plummet to her death, body sinking to the depths of the ocean. Yuri had entertained himself throughout the trip with thoughts of her body, at first floating on top of the water before slowly decomposing and sinking to the bottom.

As entertaining as that may be for the rest of the trip, and as fun as it would be to try and spot her body on his way back to the tower the next day, he decided against throwing her off. With only his brothers and the other guard girls for company, he sorely lacked for intelligent conversation. Serena might be his guard, but murdering her wouldn’t allow him his freedom, and it would likely upset Yuya, so he elected not to.

“H-How much longer, do you think?” Serena splutters between chattering teeth. Long blue hair whips in the wind, as she hides her face behind Yuri’s back. His lithe frame does little to protect her from the cold, and their clothing, traditional white and gold robes, does equally little to protect either of them from the biting wind. Yuri tilts Starve Venom below the clouds, now flying a meter above the water, in a futile attempt to warm the two of them even a couple of degrees.

“You tell me.” He replied curtly. Without the clouds in the way, the two of them could see a glimpse of island lights in the far distance. The blinking of a light house meant they couldn’t be much farther from their destination.

** TSUKUMO YUMA **

Yuma had no choice but to run like the wind. If he wanted to catch up to Astral and make it to school on time, he was going to have to skip breakfast, skip saying good morning to his family, and even skip putting on clothes. Unfortunately, he ended up doing all of those things, so there was no chance of him making it to school on time or catching up with his best friend. _If_ he went the same way Astral went.

The city was set up in varying factions, some Barian and some Astralite. Astral always left early, so he could take a winding route, avoiding coming into contact with anything remotely Barian. While Yuma teased him for being “chicken”, Yuma never walked into Barian areas if he was with Astral either, not when Astral’s appearance screamed “I’m from Astral world, please beat me into dust”. It just wasn’t the worth the hassle, even if Yuma could totally take them. Kattobingu was his motto, after all.

Since it was just him today though, and not him and Astral, Yuma had no qualms bolting through the Barian parts of the city. The red glow of the Bariarites bounced off of his skin, turning his pale complexion orange, as he nodded hello to many of the Barians taking their true form in these parts of the city. As a flesh and blood human with no crystals to speak of, no one really cared for his existence.

The shortcut worked wonders, and it allowed him to get to school 2 minutes before the bell, something of a rarity for him. Usually when he was late, he was late by a much closer margin. Astral, of course, was already there, and in human form. This was a human school after all, and while it was a bit of an open secret that many Astralites and Barians came to this school, they at least had to put on the façade of humanity if they wished to attend.

“Morning, Yuma.”

“Hey Astral!” Yuma turned around to his best friend, short on breath from running. “Sorry I wasn’t up in time to walk with you today! Akari gave me a ride in though, so at least I’m on time!” Yuma was usually pretty honest, but a little white lie every now and then to stop Astral from worrying was nothing new for him.

“You are awfully out of breath for having been given a ride.” Astral observed, although he didn’t make any accusations. It was then that Yuma was saved by the bell. Quite literally, as the school bell rang. The two of them walked together to class, Yuma’s walk to school not forgotten, but simply added to Astral’s ever-growing list of “stupid things Yuma does if Astral doesn’t watch him” a list that started so long ago they don’t remember the beginning any more.

After class had ended, the two of them were in Yuma’s house, doing homework together. Yuma had slept through class, and Astral was teaching him the lesson from scratch.

“There are only four human kingdoms, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Standard. Obviously, you know Xyz, since that’s where we are. Included in Xyz is Heartland, Barian City and Astral City.” Astral began, and Yuma did know this much. It was impossible not to know about Barian and Astral City if you live in Heartland.

The two city states were in the sky, floating with the power of mountains of Barianrite and Astralrite, two types of magical crystals that could store latent energy. Heartland was built on the land between the two, and is the neutral ground. Barian and Astral had been warring since the beginning of time, and according to legend, would fight until the dragons died out. Considering dragons were immortal, Yuma figured that meant they would fight until the end of time.

Astral continued, “Xyz is the only kingdom ruled by multiple city states. Fusion and Standard are both monarchies, and Synchro is an oligarchy. Make sure to memorize it, that will be on the test.”

“What’s an oligarchy?” Yuma asked, playing with his pencil. Astral did this a lot, using words he learned in books and expecting Yuma to know them as well.

“It means that a small group of people run the country.” Astral continued, “In Synchro’s case, it’s the Administrative Council, Sector Security, and the Signers. That probably will not be on the test, but it is good to know.” For what reason, Yuma couldn’t tell you, but he decided to try and remember it anyway.

** THE SUPREME KING, YUKI JUDAI **

The lighthouse was the perfect place for a nap. If you were on top, then the light couldn’t disturb you, instead giving you a view of the night sky. Tonight, grey clouds covered the stars, making it even easier to drift asleep. Using his connection to the spirits in the Fusion Dimension, he once asked Burstinatrix to burn his enemies to the ground, but now he could ask her to keep him warm without a coat instead. A much better use of his powers and the spirits’ time, if you were to ask Judai.

Judai, even at the throne, generally wore casual clothing. He may have been king, but Judai didn’t always take that title very seriously. On top of the lighthouse he wore all black, the easier to sneak out in, and combined with dark brown hair, he blended in with the shroud of dark clouds above. His body rested better in a bed in the castle, but his mind rested better outside. As a child, he came here to converse with the spirits in peace, and even now he can hear the ones who swore to follow him conversing in whispered tones, gossiping about something Judai cared little about.

In most places, a strong barrier existed to separate the natural and spiritual worlds, but Fusion was different. The island nation had been fused with the spiritual world, creating a dent in both worlds that made the place unstable. Years ago, madness was common, the King was mad, the spirits were uncontrollable, and chaos was ordinary. Judai, at 3 years old, started being able to harness the spirits’ powers, and by 12 he had run away to lend his abilities to the rebellion. At 16 years old he had ascended to the throne and swore to unite spirits and humans for all eternity.

The people like him because he rescinded martial law and used to be one of the rebels, but the spirits like him because he was the incarnation of an ancient supreme king who welcomed spirits. For someone who knew little about rulership, people still seemed to take his word fairly seriously. He was no puppet king, but that didn’t mean he knew what he was doing. Judai sometimes took pride in his utter lack of experience, since he kept making good calls without it. Johan called it intuition. Manjoume called it Beginner’s Luck. But Yubel called it the spirit of the Supreme King guiding him.

Judai had finally drifted completely into a dreamless sleep, he could hear the spirits chatter still, but his breathing had evened out and his body had gone limp, arm against arm as he rolled over to one side. It was then he had heard a dragon’s call. Dragons don’t roar, it’s considered unsightly. Instead they make loud, pitched calls, like birdsong but sharper and echoed. Judai was no Dragon Keeper, but he had been friends with Johan for long enough to recognize Rainbow Dragon. Johan was likely on a joy ride, as Yuri couldn’t possibly have arrived yet. Until he heard another call, this one much further away, coming from the water. Yuri had arrived unfashionably early. He didn’t recognize Starve Venom’s call by itself, but Johan was the only Dragon Keeper in Fusion, and no one would ever come to Fusion without being invited. They were too far away, and weren’t much of a vacation spot.

Judai got himself up with a nod of good morning -though it was still evening- to the spirits who watched him and yawned himself awake. It was then that he saw Rainbow Dragon quickly approach the lighthouse. Johan’s dragon was serpentine, with no real legs or arms. Instead, he had a wingspan as long as the castle, and his body had seven beautiful jewels running up its length towards a pointed tail. While anyone in Fusion could see spirits, few could see spirits outside of Fusion’s borders. Johan was one of the few. The two of them had become close friends in the rebellion, and Johan had agreed to stick by Judai’s side once he ascended the throne, something Judai was forever grateful for. While all of his friends were here in the city, it was nice to have a friend in the castle as well.

Johan landed Rainbow onto the lighthouse, and Judai had to close his eyes due to how bright Rainbow could be in the dark, the jewels shining through some unnatural force. Johan had called out, “Judai?! Is that you?”

“Yeah.” Judai slowly opened his eyes, getting used to the light, “Yuri is too early! It’s only seven.”

“Actually, it’s nine. How long were you asleep?” Johan started to giggle under his breath, as he slid down Rainbow’s back. Neos, a spirt from the stars who was quite fascinated with Judai called out.

“He was asleep for about an hour. His snores could be heard from Neo Space.”

Rainbow left the lighthouse in the direction of Starve Venom. Being the only dragon in Fusion left him with few chances to socialize and being fairly young at around 400 years old, he was still eager for companionship. Thus, Johan and Judai were trapped again on the lighthouse until Rainbow arrived with Yuri in tow.

“So,” Johan started, “Yubel told me what this meeting is all about.”

“Did they?”

“They did.”

“And what do you think?” Judai started to bite his bottom lip. He would never admit that he sook Johan’s approval, but he admired him. Johan was the one who inspired him to seek something greater than just friendship with the spirits, and encouraged him when he felt like he didn’t know what he was fighting for. He didn’t have any friends quite like Johan, and a part of him felt that even if no one else approved of his plan, as long as Johan did, then it was the right choice.

“I think Starve Venom won’t be old enough.” Johan calmly spoke, “My personal feelings about Yubel aside, I think honoring the promises we make to the spirits should always be a priority. But the Dimension Dragons, while a lot older than Rainbow, still probably aren’t old enough to remember what your exact promise to Yubel was. You’ll need older dragons. The Signer Dragons, maybe, I believe they’re about 8000 years old. Or the two Galaxy Eyes dragons, they’re said to be older than time itself.”

Starve Venom and Rainbow were both now clearly in view. Judai took his last second of privacy to get in a quick hug, before putting himself out of Judai mode and into Supreme King mode.


End file.
